Mass texting services for nonprofits can help organizations reach out to donors, volunteers, and community members with simplicity and effectiveness.
You might think email marketing is a better solution. But what do you do when you need to send time-sensitive messages? Text messaging is hands down the best in this situation and every other as well.
That’s why we’ve created this guide, starting with the definition and process and ending with the services you can choose. So, let’s learn how to use mass texting for nonprofits effectively!
What Is Mass Texting for Nonprofits?
Mass texting for nonprofits is the practice of using automated texts to reach a large group of people. This might include your team members, volunteers, donors, beneficiaries, and community members. You don’t have to reach out to everyone separately. You can simply send bulk messages and reach many people quickly.
Besides, automated messages save time that you can better spend on building communities and helping those in need. It also keeps your donors and beneficiaries engaged. If they don’t hear from you often, they might think you’re not as invested as you should be.
Moreover, text messages have an exceptionally high open rate, even more so than mass email marketing. While it’s important for all businesses for their customers to open messages quickly, it’s vital for nonprofits. That’s because nonprofits often rely on limited resources and need to maximize their impact.
Text messages are also easy to respond to. However, you need to use inbound messages or two-way messaging for this.
Let donors and volunteers respond to your messages to keep them engaged and in the loop. This builds trust and better relationships, which results in more fundraising and success for your organization.
However, like every marketing channel, mass text message marketing has downsides. Mass texting runs on automation. While you can add personalization to your messages, they might not be as effective as having a dialogue.
For charitable work and fundraising efforts, you need to be extra careful. Supporters need to know you’re real. They have to be able to trust you to build a relationship with you.
Then, there’s the problem of getting consent. How will you contact them if people don’t provide you with their number and permission? So, while there are advantages to mass texting, there are also downsides.
Step-by-Step Process To Start Sending Bulk SMS for Nonprofits
Mass texting for nonprofits isn’t as straightforward as sending a text to your friend or family member. There’s a whole process you need to follow for this marketing channel to work in your favor. Missing even a single step might sabotage your results. So, here’s what you need to do:
- Define your goals: Every marketing strategy, whether text, email, or social media, needs defined goals for success. You must know what you want a campaign to achieve. Is your goal raising awareness, gathering donations, or building a community? Answering such questions will depend on your target audience. So, do proper research before setting goals.
- Create a messaging strategy: As mentioned, text messaging isn’t straightforward. Even a nonprofit organization needs a proper strategy to send text messages to its target audience. So, decide the tone and content you want for your campaigns. It’s a good idea to plan everything in advance.
- Choose a bulk messaging service: Many services for nonprofits exist that you can use for bulk SMS marketing. However, each one has different features that fit different needs. So, do your research and choose a service that suits your organization.
- Build a contact list: The next thing you need is a contact list. Otherwise, who are you going to send the texts to? To get this list, you need legal methods that give you proper consent. For example, you can run campaigns to get numbers, offer valuable content in exchange, or gather them on sign-ups.
- Craft your messages: Once you have the list and the plan, start crafting your messages. Keep everything short and simple. Moreover, include actionable calls-to-action (CTAs). Use the language you decided earlier and keep it consistent. But remember, personalization is vital before sending the texts.
5 Ways Nonprofits Can Use a Mass Texting Service
Mass texting for nonprofits is different from other businesses. It is more a form of communication than promotion. In simple words, regular businesses might use texting to send discount offers and promotional ads. In comparison, nonprofits use it more to communicate with their target audience and build trust.
That isn’t to say that nonprofits don’t use texting to promote their brands. But it won’t be in the form of discounts and sales. If you’re a nonprofit organization and don’t know how to use SMS to your advantage, check out the following sections.
1. Reach Donors, Volunteers, and Community Members
Donors, volunteers, and community members are the most important stakeholders for a nonprofit organization. Mass texting keeps these stakeholders informed and builds trust.
For example, donors might have many questions before donating to your organization. If you’ve enabled two-way messaging, it can become convenient for them to ask those questions.
Alternatively, you can reach them promptly when sending information like donation requests. Moreover, you can easily reach volunteers and ask for their help with charity work.
2. Increase Event Attendance
Nonprofit organizations often have to hold charity and fundraising events. This is another situation where mass texting works wonders. You can use it to inform community members of upcoming events. You can send them details like location, specifics, and duration.
These messages will be hard to miss since members will get them directly on their mobile phones. As a result, you’ll have more event attendance. More attendees mean more funds and better results. Moreover, you can contact volunteers about their duties and assign them their roles.
3. Send Event, Pledge, or Donation Reminders
Continuing the previous point, you can also use texts to send reminders about events, pledges, and donations. These are all time-sensitive matters. Promptly reaching your stakeholders is of utmost importance here.
For example, if you don’t send event reminders, an interested person might forget and miss it. This will deprive you of any potential donations they may bring. It will also create a bad impression on the person and dent their trust.
Alternatively, you can send a reminder if someone must still complete a particular step in the online donation process.
4. Enhance Communication During Emergencies
We’ve mentioned time-sensitive communication multiple times throughout this article. Nonprofit organizations often have emergencies that they need to tend to. For example, if a natural disaster occurs in an area, you must quickly communicate with donors and volunteers.
Again, a text message is the best way to do this. Unlike email marketing, people rarely turn off notifications for their SMS applications. This means they’ll get the notification when you send the message.
Plus, reading words like “Emergency” and “Time-sensitive” will make them react quickly, making your campaign successful.
5. Provide Confirmations Through Text
The last scenario for nonprofit organizations to use mass texting is providing confirmation. Donors would want to know whether you got their donations.
Volunteers would want to get project confirmations, schedule confirmations, etc.
It isn’t a good practice to leave them hanging. It puts a bad impression on them, and people might stop trusting your business.
So, use mass texting to send these confirmations. However, don’t forget to add personalization. Otherwise, it might look like you haven’t put in any effort. High open rates are a benefit of text marketing, so these confirmations are more likely to be read.
3 Options for Mass Texting Service for Nonprofits in 2024
Earlier, we mentioned that choosing a mass texting service for nonprofits is a part of the messaging strategy. So, it wouldn’t make sense for us to end this discussion without giving you some options.
The best approach to the following sections is to review the information and compare the options with your needs. Also, consider your budget before choosing.
Other things you need include ease of use, compliance with messaging guidelines, and consistent support. That said, here are three of the best options for a mass texting platform.
1. Emittr Is the Best Mass Texting Service for Nonprofits
If you’re looking for the best mass texting service for nonprofits, you might want to look into Emitrr. It has advanced texting features that aren’t too hard on your pocket. You can even manage all your communications from this single SMS marketing platform.
A standout feature of Emitrr is its ability to schedule messages. You don’t have to send reminders manually — the app will do it for you! It also lets you assign conversations to teammates for better resource allocation. You even have ready-made templates to save time. Customizing them allows you to send personalized messages that give you better results.
2. Tatango Claims To Be the Best for Fundraising
Fundraising is the most critical task that a nonprofit organization has to tackle. Tatango is a mass texting service that claims to be the best for this. So, if that’s what you need, Tatango might be worth a try.
It lets you engage in one-on-one conversations, helping you build trust among donors and community members. You can also set auto-reminders, welcome, and thank-you messages, keeping your audience engaged. Lastly, it lets you create highly targeted segments for effective personalization.
3. Clearstream Is a Free Mass Texting Service for Nonprofits
Nonprofit organizations rarely have the resources to invest in fancy software systems. If that’s your case, you might want to look into a free mass texting service for nonprofits. Fortunately, we have Clearstream, which lets you send 50 complimentary messages monthly.
This might be enough for small organizations. As you scale, you can pay for more messages. This means you’ll get what you pay for. It also offers text-to-join keywords, live polls, video texting, dedicated short codes, and subaccounts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mass Texting Service for Nonprofits
Let’s explore common questions that might arise about texting services for nonprofits!
Is there a free mass texting service?
Yes, there is a free mass texting service: Clearstream. It allows businesses, including nonprofits, to send up to 50 monthly messages for free. This might be enough for your needs if you own a small organization.
Can nonprofits send text messages?
Yes, nonprofits can send text messages to donors, volunteers, and community members. It’s easier for them because, unlike other businesses, they only need verbal consent to send messages.
Is it legal to send mass texts?
Yes, it is legal to send mass texts as long as you have the recipient’s explicit consent. Plus, there are other requirements, like providing a clear unsubscribe method, getting your frequency and timing right, etc. Read SMS compliance guidelines for the complete list of rules.
Increase Your Donations by Using Mass Texting for Nonprofits
Now you know the impact a mass texting service for nonprofits can have on nonprofits. It allows you to reach out to donors, volunteers, and community members in various situations. Whether it’s a time-sensitive charity campaign or a simple confirmation message, you can easily reach out. Options include Emitrr, Tatango, and Textdrip.
Starting new marketing campaigns can feel overwhelming, but texting is something exciting. Beambox knows every bit of marketing helps, especially with tailored text messages.
You’ll soon see the benefits of your mass texting with our customizable text message marketing software. Start your free trial today!
